What is the debt ratio? (2024)

FAQs

What is the debt ratio? ›

Key Takeaways

A debt ratio below 30% is excellent. Above 40% is critical. Lenders could deny you a loan.

What Is the Debt-to-Equity (D/E) Ratio? The debt-to-equity (D/E) ratio is used to evaluate a company's financial leverage and is calculated by dividing a company's total liabilities by its shareholder equity.

The debt ratio is defined as the ratio of total debt to total assets, expressed as a decimal or percentage. It can be interpreted as the proportion of a company's assets that are financed by debt.

The debt ratio is calculated by dividing a company's total liabilities by its total assets. This calculation produces a percentage or decimal that reflects the degree to which a company finances its assets with debt.

Key takeaways

Debt-to-income ratio is your monthly debt obligations compared to your gross monthly income (before taxes), expressed as a percentage. A good debt-to-income ratio is less than or equal to 36%. Any debt-to-income ratio above 43% is considered to be too much debt.

Ideally, financial experts like to see a DTI of no more than 15 to 20 percent of your net income. For example, a family with a $250 car payment and $100 of monthly credit card payments, and $2,500 net income per month would have a DTI of 14 percent ($350/$2,500 = 0.14 or 14%).

What is the ideal current ratio? An ideal current ratio should be between 1.2 to 2, which indicates that the business has 2 times more current assets than liabilities to covers its debts. A current ratio below 1 means that the company doesn't have enough liquid assets to cover its short-term liabilities.

Let's say you have 600,000$ in total assets and 150,000$ in liabilities. To calculate the debt ratio, divide the liability (150,000$ ) by the total assets (600,000$ ). This results in a debt ratio of 0.25 or 25 percent.

Generally speaking, a good quick ratio is anything above 1 or 1:1. A ratio of 1:1 would mean the company has the same amount of liquid assets as current liabilities. A higher ratio indicates the company could pay off current liabilities several times over.

Is a debt ratio of 1 good? ›

Generally, a good debt ratio is around 1 to 1.5. However, the ideal debt ratio will vary depending on the industry, as some industries use more debt financing than others. Capital-intensive industries like the financial and manufacturing industries often have higher ratios that can be greater than 2.

Debt Ratio = 0.50, or 50%

A company that has a debt ratio at this level has a perfect balance in its debt and equity funding and would also be considered a low risk for a potential financing source.

A debt ratio is a tool that helps determine the number of assets a company bought using debt. The ratio helps investors know the risk they will be taking if they invest in an entity having higher debt used for capital building.

Low debt ratio: If the result is a small number (like 0.2 or 20%), it means the company doesn't owe a lot compared to what it owns. This is usually a good sign. A lower debt ratio indicates a healthier financial position.

If you have a DTI ratio between 36% and 49%, this means that while the current amount of debt you have is likely manageable, it may be a good idea to pay off your debt. While lenders may be willing to offer you credit, a DTI ratio above 43% may deter some lenders.

From a pure risk perspective, debt ratios of 0.4 or lower are considered better, while a debt ratio of 0.6 or higher makes it more difficult to borrow money.

A debt ratio below 0.5 is typically considered good, as it signifies that debt represents less than half of total assets. A debt ratio of 0.75 suggests a relatively high level of financial leverage, with debt constituting 75% of total assets.